Beatifold
Beatifold Bey-AT-ih-fold The Beatifold exists above the Emerfold and below the Upper Devafold. Great Celestial beings of purity preside here and sometimes traverse to the Emerfold to walk in its gardens. As with the Demons of the Deorfold, most of the Angels of the Beatifold cannot pass into the Kanafold unaided. Description The Beatifold is the realm of the beings of light and purity most mortals now refer to as angels. High celestial being in Kanatral have no distinction and are all one and the same. Much like with the Deor, the priests of Heos refer to the angels by another name - questionably their true name since the time the Deor began to be solely referred to as demons. To the Church of Heos, they are called the Bantiel. The Beatifold is a place of complete serenity where all beings live in a version of a perfect reality suited to their own heart's desire and needs. As such, the plane looks different to each and every person and holds no standard form. Indeed, the appearance of the Beatifold could be completely different from one 'day' time does not exsist in such planes it is a reference rather than a reality to the next for even the same soul. In the end, only the purest souls pass from the Emerfold to the Beatifold. The 'archangels' of this plane, much like the archdemons of the Deorfold, possess qualities of all the celestial being and are therefore incredibly powerful beings. The Bantiel The Bantiel, commonly known as angels, are celestial beings of purity that reside in the Beatifold. Much as with the Deor of the Deorfold, there is no distiction amongst the Bantiel. The Bantiel only very seldom venture beyond their native fold and most cannot cross the Velare through the Emerfold without direct aid. In fact, only a few ever willingly leave the Beatifold, so great is the bliss of the fold. Only the Archangels, or Bannarchs, are given permission by the Deva to ever pass through the Velare unaided and then only under extreme durress. The Bannarchs are beings of such power and purity that they hold the abilities of any of the given Bantiel. Bantiel, like the Deor, can be brought into the Kanafold by indirect means. Unlike the Deor, however, the Bantiel see possession to be a violation of a being spirit and soul. For a Bantiel to ask permission of a mortal to share their mortal body, the situation must certainly be dire indeed. Prolonged possession by a Bantiel causes a condition known as the Cleansing amongst the church of Heos. The darkness of that person's soul is purged and the being becomes one of pure light. While the Bantiel will almost never actually possess a mortal, it is even rarer still that one will choose to stay. As the recipient undergoes the Cleansing, the final transformation which can take decades or longer depending on how much will the Bantiel is putting into the possession, will endure the Purging. The process forces the darkness from a persons soul and body. While to most this would sound like a holy thing, the pain involved in the Purging is no less intense than what the Corruption eventually brings as it still involves the sundering of one's soul followed by a physical transformation. Much as with the Corruption's eventual completion, the Cleansing ultimately erases the identity of the original host and results in them being reborn as a manifestation of the Bantiel who possessed them. Such Bantiel are not allowed back into the Beatifold and are forced to seek their redemption by descending into the Deorfold to battle until they are slain as redemption for their deed. As a softer punishment, the Bantiel will have their immortality taken and they will be forced to live as a mortal - a thing more excruciating than one might think given the nature of the Beatifold. Because of this, most Bantiel and Bannarchs will not even consider possession as an option and respond only to powerful summonings performed for the most dire of needs.